Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash considers how the future of men’s tennis could look after Jannik Sinner beat Carlos Alcaraz to win the grass-court Grand Slam title.
WATCH MORE: Sinner storms to first Wimbledon title against Alcaraz – highlights
The first person Jannik Sinner thanked in his speech after winning Wimbledon was Carlos Alcaraz.
Speaking after the latest instalment of their captivating rivalry, Sinner said: “Carlos, thank you for the player you are.
“It is so difficult to play you but we have a great relationship off the court.
“Keep going, keep pushing, you are going to hold this trophy many times – you already have twice!”
A packed Centre Court crowd were almost willing Alcaraz to find a way to force a deciding fifth set and keep an absorbing contest going.
But world number one Sinner powered to the finish line to end Alcaraz’s title defence.
Sinner is the first player to beat Alcaraz in a Grand Slam final. Alcaraz was the first to beat Sinner.
The pair have now won the past seven Grand Slam titles, with Sinner taking four.
They met for the first time in a major final at last month’s French Open, with Alcaraz recovering from two sets and three championship points down to win an epic, before Sinner took this year’s Wimbledon title.
There is little that separates the two in terms of the numbers.
Sinner has won 20 titles to Alcaraz’s 21. The Spaniard also has the edge in Grand Slams, with five to Sinner’s four.
Alcaraz still leads the head-to-head 8-5 – but Sinner has now snapped a five-match losing streak against the world number two. The Italian has also halted Alcaraz’s winning run at 24 matches.
The pair also have consistently high-quality matches. Only four of their 13 matches have been straight-set wins, and three of their five major meetings have gone the distance.
Alcaraz has won all three of their five-set encounters. The first came at the 2022 US Open, an epic quarter-final that lasted five hours and 15 minutes and finished at almost 3am.
Sinner is the less expressive of the pair on court, although he was noticeably fired up throughout the Wimbledon final, with shouts of “let’s go!” and the occasional sharp word to his box.
In terms of playing style, he has the Novak Djokovic-esque movement in and out of the corners, ankles snapping worryingly close to the ground as he slides to chase down a shot.
He used his huge serve and forehand to great effect against Alcaraz – but Sinner says he can still learn plenty from his opponent.
“I keep looking up to Carlos because even today I felt like he was doing a couple of things better than I did,” Sinner said.
Alcaraz is the showman of the rivalry. At times a walking highlight reel who smiles even when the point goes against him, he was mobbed by fans on his way to a practice session before the final.
His serve was not at its best on Sunday – in part because Sinner did not allow it to be – but his shot-making ability is what makes him so watchable.
Alcaraz has often spoken about how the rivalry with Sinner pushes him to be better.
“I think it’s great for us and for tennis. Every time we play against each other, I think our level is really high,” he said.
With the ‘Big Three’ era having ended, and Djokovic the last man standing from the golden age of men’s tennis, fans are looking for another rivalry to latch on to.
Sinner and Alcaraz are the first to say their budding rivalry has some way to go before it reaches the heights of those before them – but it has all the hallmarks of another era-defining competitiveness.
“We have just come out of one of the most incredible eras and suddenly these two guys are stepping up,” Pat Cash, the 1987 Wimbledon champion, said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“I always say Andre Agassi saved men’s tennis when he came back and these guys are saving men’s tennis now.”
Former world number one John McEnroe said the pair reminded him of his own battles with Bjorn Borg – the ‘Fire and Ice’ rivalry that ended tied 7-7 – and that of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
“That’s what makes it great. The way they behave out there is completely different but both are equally effective,” McEnroe said on BBC TV.
Former Wimbledon doubles champion Todd Woodbridge agreed, adding: “They have the best parts of those players’ games, and they have taken it to the next level.”
But Rod Laver, a four-time Wimbledon champion, perhaps summed it up best.
“Their growing rivalry is a gift to our sport, and it’s matched by the genuine respect they show for each other,” he wrote.
Ashley James has recalled a scary incident where she suspected her drink was spiked and ended up blacked out. Detailing the experience, the This Morning star told Mirror: “There have been many occasions where I’ve wondered if I’ve been spiked. But we blame ourselves and think, ‘Maybe I was just drunk.’”
“I remember visiting my brother at university for a night out years ago. I had a total blackout, woke up in my brother’s room and I’d been sick – everywhere,” she said. Ashley continued: “That was a disproportionate reaction to what I drank that evening and I have no memory of the evening itself. It was terrifying.”
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The mum-of-two added, “I was really young so I didn’t think about spiking or what I should do in that situation. Like so many others, I blamed myself or simply thought the drinks were stronger than I thought. Luckily, nothing worse has happened.”
In our exclusive chat, the DJ and presenter, 38, admitted she wants to better the world for her children; Alfie, four, and Ada, two, whose dad is partner Tommy Andrews – particularly after some of these terrifying experiences of her own.
“I’m outspoken, but the more you talk about things, the more you can fight for change. There are so many scary things out there, especially as a mother; the thought of my children experiencing things I have – whether it’s trolling or other issues – makes me nervous. The world’s a scary place now.”
On the topic of trolling, something celebrities are all too familiar with, she talks about her experiences on social media and gossip website, Tattle Life, which is now being shut down. The website allows users to post anonymously, but Ashley says the harassment she has encountered on it has made its way into her home life, too.
“People don’t realise that it’s not just gossiping and chatting, it’s much darker,” she says. “In my case, someone made a false allegation against me to social services, who came to my door. “I told them that, day or night, if they came to my door they’d only see loved children, so I wasn’t worried. But it does endanger people when their family is involved. It’s scary as it’s entering the real world.”
Ashley continues, “Social services are overstretched as it is, so there should be repercussions for wasting their time. Put bluntly, other children could die if social services’ attention is elsewhere because of these allegations. People need to be accountable. If they’re going to say it online, they should say it with their faces and names made public. They should be as accountable online as they are offline.”
Experiences like this have made Ashley ultra-aware when it comes to educating her children about the internet. “My son is amazing; he’s sweet, sensitive and kind and I never want the world to convince him that those aren’t worthy attributes for men. We definitely need more kind and compassionate boys and men in the world, so that’s what I want to teach him,” she says.
Earlier this year, Ashley took to social media after being told that Alfie may need extra help from the Special Educational Needs department when he begins school. Ashley says she’s trusting her gut.
“The school did a SEN report which didn’t specifically label him or say why he needs extra help, and to be honest, I don’t really mind. I think any parent would welcome extra support for their child. “My role as his mum is to guide him and to trust my instincts, to ensure that he can thrive in a school setting. So, I feel reassured.”
As we chat about creating a better world for her children, Ashley says she’s working with anti-spiking campaign CounterSpike and charity Spike Aware UK to get rid of drink spiking in the future.
Admitting she wants to get rid of the ‘victim blaming’ mentality, Ashley said: “We ask how much they’ve had to drink. Even as parents, especially with daughters, people find themselves saying, ‘You can’t go out like that.’ But you’re equating their outfit to their morals, or their safety.
“The problem – even if it’s well intended – is that it’s telling her that she’s responsible for bad things happening to her, rather than the person doing them,” says Ashley. That’s why she’s pleased that CounterSpike has developed SpikeStixx, which enables people to test their drinks. “It’s a way to reassure your mates they haven’t just drunk too much – to know for sure.
“More than anything, it will hopefully help stop people from doing it. Because, right now, statistics from CounterSpike show that 90% of spiking goes unreported.”
“One day, my son and daughter will be going out into this world without me. I would really like to think that things will improve, and they can do that without fear.”
Ashley is the official ambassador for the launch of CounterSpike’s campaign and its SpikeStixx, which are available to buy at counterspike.com
Peter Andre has admitted he experiences feelings of guilt as his mum Thea, who lives in Australia, continues to battle Alzheimer’s disease. The dad of five spoke out after former GMTV star Fiona Phillips released a heartbreakingly honest account of her own struggles resulting from the neurological disease.
Peter’s mum Thea was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, both of which are progressive neurological diseases which affect both brain function and movement of the body. In his weekly column for OK!, the Mysterious Girl singer said he and his siblings felt “guilt and worry” as they witnessed their beloved mum deteriorate.
“I read about Fiona Phillips’ experience of Alzheimer’s and the strain it has taken on not just her but her family,” he said. “It’s absolutely heartbreaking. With a disease like Alzheimer’s it’s so hard, number one, for the person affected, but it’s also heartbreaking for those who love and care for them.”
Former Mirror columnist Fiona, 64, published an article last week detailing her everyday life with condition, and the effect it has had on not just herself but her loved ones.
In a joint memoir written with her husband of 28 years, Martin Frizzell, Fiona recalled discovering she had the progressive illness in 2022, and revealed she initially attributed her brain fog and mood swings to menopause.
Her husband Martin, who was the boss at ITV’s This Morning for a decade until stepping down in February to take care of Fiona, also revealed the extent to which the disease has impacted Fiona’s cognitive processes. On bad days, he shared, her confusion leads her to ask to see her parents who have sadly already passed away.
In excerpts from their memoir published in the Daily Mail, he wrote: “It is January 2025 as I write this, and Fiona needs a lot of help,” said Martin. “She needs help showering and brushing her teeth. She can do these things physically, but is unable now to think about how she should do them…”.
Popstar Pete said he was all too familiar with the impact Alzheimer’s has on those around the person affected, and that he empathised with Fiona and Martin.
With my mum, I see the decline happening, and I know the feelings of guilt and worry that we, her loved ones, feel. It is so painful for everyone and my heart goes out to Fiona, her husband Martin and her boys.”
Thea and his dad Savvas live on Australia’s Gold Coast, and he regularly travels to visit them. During a visit Down Under in January, Pete revealed said his visits also brought up mixed emotions. “Being with my mum and dad in Australia was incredible, but understandably also very emotional. I went with my brother, Michael, and we got to spend quality time with my sister as well.
“The hardest bit for me is leaving them. Both Mum and Dad are on the decline, unfortunately, especially my mum.”
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Almost two decades after splitting from Brian McFadden, Kerry Katona has revealed that she reached out to the Westlife singer’s new wife, Danielle Parkinson, on their wedding day earlier this month. Kerry, who shares daughters Molly and Lilly-Sue with Brian, said in her weekly New! Magazine column that she had sent Danielle a text on the morning of her wedding – days after it was reported the exes would ‘never be friends’.
“My ex, Brian McFadden, got married earlier this month and I just want to wish him and his wife Danielle a lifetime of happiness,” began Kerry in the column. Following reports that the singer had ‘burned all bridges’ with Brian, she hit back by continuing: “I find it sad though that as he gets married, everyone writes stories about me.
“His wedding has nothing to do with me at all. I texted Danielle to wish them a happy day– it looked like a beautiful celebration and I hope they had a ball,” finished Kerry.
While Kerry’s two eldest daughters were at the nuptials, she didn’t divulge on whether they enjoyed the day or not. Alongside Molly and Lilly, Kerry is a mum to Heidi and Max – whose dad is taxi driver Mark Croft – and daughter DJ, who Kerry welcomed with her late third husband George Kay.
Kerry’s olive branch to Brian and Danielle comes after a tumultuous relationship between the exes, with Kerry previously slamming Brian for being a ‘s**t dad’ to their daughters.
“He was a s**t dad. I’m the one who provides for them.,” she said on a podcast in 2023. Public comments like these have reportedly made their co-parenting relationship strained, a source claimed last week.
A source told The Sun : “Kerry has burnt her bridges with Brian, thanks to years of speaking out of turn. She’s got a heart of gold but a big mouth and that has always been her downfall.
“Kerry has a bad habit of not thinking before she speaks and it’s landed her in hot water with Brian on many occasions. She’ll say something publicly that is either outrageous or something she should have kept private between them and it gets her in trouble.”
However, Kerry said just days before the reports that she would ‘love’ to be friends with him “I wish Brian and I could have stayed friends. Molly went to watch him at a festival last week and I would have loved to have gone with her. It would be great to have a better relationship,” she wrote in her column last week.
Brian rarely speaks about Kerry and went to great lengths not to mention her last year’s BBC documentary, Boybands Forever. In a toe-curling exchange, the interviewer asks him on camera: “Marrying Kerry, you’re sort of…” as Brian quickly interjects: “I don’t want to talk about her, no. Definitely no.”
When Padraig Harrington finished one shot away from the play-off for The Open title in 2002, few observers would have anticipated Irish golf being on the threshold of an extraordinary period of unprecedented glory.
It seemed just another near miss. But since 2007, the island of Ireland has produced 11 men’s major victories.
It also ended a 68-year wait to stage an Open, and did it so well that just six years later, the championship returns to the Antrim coast, doing so this week.
A sellout crowd of nearly 280,000 people will flock to Royal Portrush and no doubt regenerate a uniquely fervent Irish atmosphere, one that is already firmly embedded in Open folklore.
The passion will be stoked because Northern Ireland boasts a Grand Slam-winning Masters champion in Rory McIlroy. And this is the venue where Irishman Shane Lowry claimed an astonishing Open victory in 2019.
Such a sustained gloriously golden period was barely imaginable when Harrington was bogeying Muirfield’s last hole to miss out on a four-man shootout for the title 23 years ago.
At that stage Portrush native Fred Daly, the Open champion of 1947, had provided the island of Ireland’s only major success.
“We had good players in the past,” Harrington told BBC Sport.
Harrington was a different animal. He first won The Open at Carnoustie 18 years ago, successfully defended the title at Royal Birkdale and then went to Oakland Hills and won the US PGA Championship.
Three major wins in 13 months. “Padraig got the ball rolling,” said McIlroy, who made his Open debut in 2007 and finished as the leading amateur. “I think the other Irish players looked at that and that gave them belief.”
Harrington, who last month won the US Senior’s Open for the second time, continues to possess a competitive edge that sets him apart. “I did two things,” he said.
“One, I always talked about majors, that I would win plural majors. I talked myself up.
“But I think the second thing came a bit with my personality. A bit instinctively, I didn’t realise I wasn’t meant to win.
“Whereas the guys who went before me thought, no, an Irish guy can’t do that, I didn’t have any ceiling on what was possible.
“That’s how I got through the amateur game. That’s how I got through at all stages because I wasn’t always the most beautiful swinger of the golf club or anything like that.
“So a lot of times I succeeded by purely not knowing any different, keeping my head down and doing my thing and I think that’s really helped me.”
And Harrington’s major wins had a ripple effect on geographically his closest colleagues. Graeme McDowell won the US Open at Pebble Beach in 2010, and McIlroy kept the trophy in Northern Ireland the following year.
“I would have helped the following on Irish guys,” Harrington said. “They could say, ‘hang on a second, we were number one in the amateur game in Ireland. We played with Paddy. We know what he’s like. I can do that.'”
The 1998 Good Friday Agreement – the deal that brought an end to 30 years of conflict in Northern Ireland, known as the Troubles – opened up further possibilities.
McIlroy told me: “That momentum that we all had was there at that period of time and in conjunction with the R&A looking at Royal Portrush to potentially host the Open Championship again.
“And then for it to go there, I think it’s [down to] Irish golf and the players that have come through and how well that we’ve done.
“But I also think it’s a great representation of how far Northern Ireland has come in the last 30 or 40 years.
“Because in the 70s and the 80s and the 90s, no one would have dreamed of hosting an Open Championship in Northern Ireland in those times.”
Harrington agreed. “Once it went there, we knew it would be a success,” said the 53-year-old Dubliner.
After the 2012 Irish Open was staged at the Antrim course, attracting huge numbers and player praise, the R&A intensified its feasibility studies.
“There was a bit of work behind the scenes talking it up, emphasising the point of how good it would be,” Harrington said.
Within seven years the dream became reality with the first all-ticket Open and nearly a quarter of a million fans flocking to the links.
“You’re still a little bit nervous that you want it to be a success,” Harrington added. “We knew the crowds would turn out, obviously you have to get the logistics and make sure the crowds have a great time.
“I don’t think we could have anticipated how much, but maybe we should have. The players really loved it. Everybody who travelled in loved it.”
Never mind that McIlroy missed the cut, County Offaly’s Shane Lowry surged to a tumultuous six-shot victory. Tricolours flew triumphantly in loyalist marching season territory, amid unbridled sporting joy.
“We certainly have one of the best Open venues now in Royal Portrush,” Harrington reflected. He knows how much The Open means, regardless of which seaside venue holds the championship.
“You could travel 50 miles away from the course, and pull into a petrol station and the person behind the counter is likely to start talking to you about the Open Championship, actually likely to ask you if you have any tickets.
“You can often go to a tournament in the US, and half a mile down the road at a petrol station they don’t even know the event is on.
“Portrush is exceptional at taking ownership of the event, believing that it’s their Open and the community comes together for their Open and they make it very special.”
In a delicious twist, the return coincides with McIlroy ending his 11-year major drought by winning the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam. The Northern Irishman is here wearing the coveted Green Jacket.
No further hype needed. “Yeah, poor Rory, everyone seems to build up the pressure on him being the favourite,” Harrington said.
“But if you want to be at that level the pressure’s always going to be on you.
“Clearly, he knows Portrush very well, he’ll have the support and there’s no doubt we’d love to see an Irish winner.”
But Harrington says McIlroy should maintain some perspective for what could otherwise be an overwhelming week.
“Him going with the Masters’ jacket, I think it’s enough for him to just swan around and wave to the crowds,” said the three-time major winner.
“He doesn’t have to win. The people always want him to win the next major or whatever, but it doesn’t have to be this one.
“I know it would be nice to be Portrush, but he’ll win plenty more majors.”
Regardless of whether Portrush can serve up another domestic fairytale, this will remain a golden period for golf on the island of Ireland. How does Harrington think the sport’s historians will reflect on it in years to come?
“Clearly it’s been unprecedented,” he said. “There’s been a lot of ‘how did we do it?’ You know, I don’t know if you can replicate things like that.
“Everybody’s been trying to find the formula, did we have something special in Ireland? I’m not sure.
“We gained some momentum. We did our thing. I think it’s good for us going forward that we will have players who will believe in themselves.”
They will do so while speculation grows that new ground will be broken by the R&A taking a future Open to Portmarnock in the the Republic of Ireland.
It is another indicator of how far and how quickly golf in this part of the world has moved. “Definitely, that’s a big step,” Harrington said.
“It’s tried for a long time to lose the tag as the British Open; it’s The Open,” Harrington said.
“And it represents everybody, not just the people in Britain, but it represents everybody around the world who plays golf.